CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWSCorrected Nov. 4, 2011 – 4:20 p.m.

Spending Bill Set for Conference

By Kerry Young, CQ Staff

Senate passage of one of at least two fiscal 2012 “minibus” appropriations packages has set up the first conference committee on a spending measure in two years.

The conference on that measure (HR 2112) may begin as soon as Thursday, aides said. The bill, which passed 69-30 on Tuesday, combines Senate versions of the Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science (S 1572) and Transportation-HUD (S 1596) spending bills. The package would provide a total of about $128 billion in discretionary appropriations for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, not including emergency disaster aid.

The Senate’s minibus strategy of building small packages of the 12 regular appropriations bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 is intended both to expedite completion and to enhance the chamber’s bargaining position with the House. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may confirm Wednesday that the chamber will turn to a second minibus as soon as Thursday.

The second minibus may move quickly through the Senate, said Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii. “We hope to do it this month,” he said.

That package is expected to combine the Energy-Water (HR 2354), Financial Services (S 1573) and State-Foreign Operations (S 1601) measures. Inclusion of the State-Foreign Operations bill remained up in the air late Tuesday after Reid came under pressure from the Obama administration to leave it out. There was talk of adding the Homeland Security (HR 2017) bill instead.

Conferees and Another CR

Another concern for appropriators is that the federal government is operating on a stopgap continuing resolution (PL 112-36) that expires Nov. 18. House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., has said conferees on the first minibus will probably put a new CR on that measure to finance the government through mid-December.

Although House and Senate appropriators and aides have already been discussing how to reconcile differences in the bills between the chambers, work on the first minibus is not likely to be competed this week.

“We are a couple of weeks away from a logical date to complete that CR,” said Roy Blunt of Missouri, ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.

The full House has acted on only one of the three bills in the package, the Agriculture measure. That bill, which passed in June, was used as the underlying vehicle for the minibus. The House Appropriations Committee approved its Commerce-Justice-Science measure (HR 2596) in July, and a subcommittee approved a draft Transportation-HUD bill in September.

Lawmakers will have to decide how to allocate total discretionary spending among all 12 bills — and the three in the first minibus in particular.

The debt limit law (PL 112-25) enacted in August set a $1.043 trillion cap for the current year, and the Senate’s bills conform to that level. The House, however, did most of its appropriations work using an earlier, and lower, cap of $1.019 trillion. Leaders in both chambers have agreed to stick with the larger total, though there may be a drive for some savings in the first minibus.

“I am hoping that we can get closer to the House level,” Blunt said.

Spending Bill Set for Conference

Agriculture

Conferees on the Agriculture portion of the minibus will be working with a $2.6 billion gap between the $17.2 billion in discretionary spending the House bill would provide for the Agriculture Department, Food and Drug Administration and rural development, and the $19.8 billion passed by the Senate.

Among the significant differences is money for the FDA, which is charged with implementing the food safety law (PL 111-353) that President Obama signed in January. While the Senate measure would give the agency a $50 million increase over current levels to $2.27 billion, the House bill would cut it by $285 million to almost $2.2 billion.

The chambers also diverged over the Women, Infants and Children’s nutrition program. The Senate bill would provide $6.6 billion, just shy of the fiscal 2011 level of $6.7 billion. The House bill would provide about $6 billion.

Most agriculture spending is mandatory, set by multi-year authorization bills and largely out of the hands of appropriators. When mandatory spending is considered, the Senate bill would appropriate $136.6 billion for the programs it covers, while the House bill would provide $125.5 billion.

Although both bills passed relatively free of policy riders, there are some differences that conferees will have to referee.

In the Senate, Maine Republican Susan Collins won an amendment to block the Agriculture Department from setting standards that limit the frequency with which white potatoes and other starchy vegetables are served in school lunches. The House bill has more general language that “urges restraint and practical timelines for implementing” school meal standards, and directs the department to issue a rule that would not increase the cost of providing school meals.

The Senate also adopted an amendment by Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn that would bar farmers with incomes exceeding $1 million from receiving subsidies under the direct payment program. That program links payments to a farm’s past production levels and are paid out regardless of market conditions. Similar efforts to add restrictions on the program fell short in the House.

The House bill includes language that would block a fiscal 2012 payment to Brazil’s cotton industry agreed to as part of a settlement of a trade dispute. Critics said the issue would be better addressed in the next farm bill. The Senate bill does not include similar language.

Commerce-Justice-Science

The Commerce-Justice-Science section of the minibus would provide $53.2 billion in discretionary appropriations, including $500 million in emergency disaster relief money, while the House bill would provide $50.2 billion.

The House bill would largely shield federal law enforcement programs from cuts and slightly increase money for the FBI, while making steep reductions in aid for state and local police activities.

The Economic Development Administration and the Legal Services Corporation also face big cuts under the House measure.

Spending Bill Set for Conference

The Senate bill would increase appropriations for the Bureau of Prisons and the Joint Polar Satellite System — a project of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — while making cuts in other programs, including slight reductions for federal law enforcement activities.

State and local law enforcement programs would also see big cuts under the Senate bill, though much less severe than in the House’s version.

The Senate bill would direct $530 million to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, while the House bill proposes zeroing out the program.

The House bill also would provide no money for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring program, while the Senate would provide $200 million.

It also includes firearms provisions that are not in the Senate measure, including language that would bar federal money from being used to require licensed gun dealers, importers and manufacturers to report to the Justice Department sales of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person.

The Senate bill would eliminate money for the Justice Department’s “Second Chance Act,” an anti-recidivism program that would receive $70 million under the House bill.

Transportation-HUD

Three months after an impasse over subsidies to rural airports temporarily shut down most Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations, conferees will have to reconcile differences between the House and Senate spending bills on money for the Essential Air Service program.

Under the portion of the Senate bill that covers the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments, the program that subsidizes carriers serving otherwise unprofitable rural airports would receive $143 million, almost $7 million less than in fiscal 2011. The subcommittee-approved House draft bill would cut the program to $100 million. Both bills would supplement the appropriation with $50 million set aside in so-called overflight fees collected by the FAA.

Overall, the Senate bill would appropriate $109.5 billion for transportation and housing programs, including $55.4 billion in discretionary money. The House bill would provide $103.7 billion, including $55.2 billion in discretionary appropriations.

Senators would cap federal highway aid obligations for fiscal 2012 at $41.1 billion, while the House bill would cap obligations at $27 billion. The House and Senate also are far apart on money for Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The House wants to give Amtrak $227 million for operations, representing a $334.9 million cut from fiscal 2011, while the Senate would appropriate $544 million, a reduction of $17.9 million.

For HUD, both bills would maintain major housing programs, though at different levels. The House would give HUD’s Community Development Loan Guarantee Program — better known as Section 108 — $6.8 million to guarantee up to $275 million worth of loans, while the Senate would provide $4.9 million and cap loan guarantees at $200 million.

Another block grant, the Home Investment Partnerships Program, would get $1.2 billion in the House bill, and $1 billion in the Senate measure, a cut of more than $650 million from current levels. The program received intense scrutiny because of fund mismanagement uncovered in some Washington-area projects.